Saturday, May 3, 2008

The "Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana" is a programme started during 1999 by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India to encourage students of Basic Sciences, Engineering and Medicine to take up research careers in these areas. The aim of the programme is to identify and encourage talented students with aptitude for research.

This programme strives to assist the students to realise their potential and to ensure that the best scientific talent is developed for research and growth of in the country. Generous scholarships is provided (up to the Pre-Ph.D. level) to the selected students.

In addition, summer programmes for the KVPY Fellows are organized in prestigious research and educational institutions in the country.

The KVPY is funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India. The programme is administered by the Indian Institute of Science (IISc, Bangalore), through the Society for Innovation and Development (SID, IISc Campus). Selections for Basic Sciences, Engineering and Medicine Streams are carried out by IISc (Bangalore), IIT-Bombay (Mumbai), and ICMR (New Delhi), respectively, in association with two Zonal Centres one at Kolkata (Indian Institute of Science Education Research, Kolkata) and another at Mumbai (HBCSE, TIFR). There are special groups or committees set up at IISc, IIT and ICMR which screen the applications, conduct interviews at various centres, make the final selection and attend to follow-up matters. In this regard ICMR functions in association with the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi (AIIMS) and the Post – Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh (PGIMER).

The Department of Science and Technology - the nodal agency of the Government has entrusted the overall responsibility for organising the scheme to the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and set up a National Advisory Committee (NAC) for overseeing its implementation. IISc, which administers the programme through the Society for Innovation and Development, has provided necessary infrastructural support. A Basic Committee and a National Scientific Committee has been set up by IISc to monitor various aspects, both administrative and academic, of the KVPY Programme.

The Government of India has established Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISER) in 2006. Three of these institutes are functioning in Kolkata, Pune and Mohali and two more will start functioning from this year at Bhopal and Thiruvananthapuram. IISERs are a unique initiative in science education in India where teaching and education will be totally integrated with state-of-the-art research nurturing both curiosity and creativity in an intellectually vibrant atmosphere of research. The IISERs aim to become science institutes of the highest international caliber.

Each IISER is an autonomous institution conducting their own Masters and Doctoral programmes. Students are encouraged to work on research projects during the vacation periods in the first four years of their Masters programme in various research institutes outside IISER.

Admission

Applications are invited from prospective candidates for admission to the 5-Year Integrated Masters (M.S.) Programme at IISERs at Bhopal, Kolkata, Mohali, Pune and Thiruvananthapuram for the academic session 2008-09.

Eligibility Criteria

1. 10+2 or it's equivalent examination in 2007 or those appearing in 2008, and